The Government has announced that rules on gatherings are due to change on Monday 14th to only allow groups of 6 to meet at any social venue.
This is a marked reduction in numbers from 30 that was in place previously.
It has long been a concern of police, Councils and the general public that even though rules were in place, it was difficult to enforce them due to limited resources and access to additional funds.
The Government has announced that it will support local authorities through enforcement of lockdown rules by making a register for newly qualified and recently retired Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) so that Local Authorities can recruit more quickly and fill any gaps.
As well as this, Covid Marshalls are being introduced in order to take strain off police forces for dealing with lockdown rule-breakers.
In yesterday’s Coronavirus press conference the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, said:
“In future, premises where people meet socially will be legally required to request the contact details of a member of every party, record and retain these details for 21 days and provide them to NHS Test and Trace, without delay, when required.
"We will support local authorities to make further and faster use of their powers to close venues that are breaking the rules and pose a risk to public health."
The new rules announced only apply to England, with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland having devolved powers over their lockdown measures.
